A method for determining a color profile from received raster data and printing the raster data is provided. Color profiles provide a mapping from a color space of the raster data to a color space of the printer, which typically uses CMYK toner or ink. A text color profile may be employed to print crisper text, or a photo color profile may be employed to produce better images. The raster data includes a plurality of raster scan lines containing digital pixel values. The method includes determining a number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and a number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values for the plurality of raster scan lines. A color profile is selected based on a determination between the repeated and non-repeated digital pixel values. An example image forming apparatus that may carry out the method is also provided.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. A system comprising: a communication link for receiving raster data from a computing device; a data storage unit for storing the raster data, a number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values in the raster data, and a number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values in the raster data; a processor for (i) determining the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, (ii) comparing the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values with each other, and (iii) based on the comparison, selecting a color profile, out of a plurality of color profiles, to be used to print the raster data; and an image forming apparatus for printing the raster data using the color profile selected by the processor, wherein, if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is greater than the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, the processor selects a first color profile out of the plurality of color profiles, and if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is less than or equal to the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, the processor selects a second color profile out of the plurality of color profiles, the second color profile being different from the first color profile.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the first color profile is a text color profile for printing text.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the second color profile is a photo color profile for printing a photo.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the computing device comprises a personal computer, a smartphone, or a scanner.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein the communication link comprises a modem connection, an Ethernet connection, a Wi-Fi connection, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) connection, or a Bluetooth connection.
6. A method comprising: receiving raster data comprising a plurality of raster scan lines, wherein each raster scan line comprises a sequence of digital pixel values; determining a number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and a number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values for the plurality of raster scan lines; comparing the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values with each other; based on the comparison, selecting a color profile, out of a plurality of color profiles, to be used to print the raster data; and printing the raster data using the selected color profile, wherein, if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is greater than the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, a first color profile is selected out of the plurality of color profiles, and if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is less than or equal to the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, a second color profile is selected out of the plurality of color profiles, the second color profile being different from the first color profile.
7. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values comprises comparing adjacent digital pixel values in each raster scan line for the plurality of raster scan lines and incrementing the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values if the adjacent pixels have equivalent digital pixel values.
8. The method of claim 6 , wherein determining the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values comprises comparing adjacent digital pixel values in each raster scan line for the plurality of raster scan lines and incrementing the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values if the adjacent pixels have different digital pixel values.
9. The method of claim 6 , wherein the first color profile is a text color profile for printing text.
10. The method of claim 6 , wherein the second color profile is a photo color profile for printing a photo.
11. The method of claim 6 , wherein the raster data comprises a raster bitmap representing text.
12. The method of claim 6 , wherein the raster data comprises a raster bitmap representing a photo.
13. A method comprising: receiving raster data comprising a plurality of raster scan lines; determining a number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and a number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values for the plurality of raster scan lines; comparing the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values and the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values with each other; determining a document type based at least on the comparison; based on the determined document type, selecting a color profile, out of a plurality of color profiles, to be used to print the raster data ; and printing the raster data using the selected color profile, wherein, if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is greater than the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, a first color profile is selected out of the plurality of color profiles, and if the comparison indicates that the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is less than or equal to the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values, a second color profile is selected out of the plurality of color profiles, the second color profile being different from the first color profile.
14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the document type is a text document type if the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is greater than the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values.
15. The method of claim 13 , wherein the document type is a photo document type if the number of sequentially repeated digital pixel values is less than or equal to the number of sequentially non-repeated digital pixel values.
16. The method of claim 14 , wherein the first color profile is a text color profile for printing a text document.
17. The method of claim 15 , wherein the second color profile is a photo color profile for printing a photo document.
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February 14, 2014
September 8, 2015
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